Confirmed with Link: Penguins sign Antti Niemi (1 year, $700k)

[edog37]

this is a good signing. Get a Stanley Cup winning goalie who can back up Murray & rest him for 20-25 games. Excellent value & only a 1 year deal. Gives Jarry another year to season in the AHL & get valuable playing time. And if Niemi ends up crapping out, who cares. It's very small money & only 1 year.

 

[SEALBound]

Exactly what we needed. He may not be a stellar starter but I believe he'll be a fine backup for us. And at 700k? **** me, that's perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Funny though, how many of us had Niemi as our backups after a MAF trade to Dallas?

Just wish Nuke could have been part of that deal. But then again the payment to Niemi is much better

Love this.

 

[Burgs]

Niemi stunk it up in Dallas last season. Hopefully he'll be better with fewer games. If not we're going to have a problem with our 19 back-to-back games this season. But at least he costs nothing.

 

[Whale Mingo]

Exactly what we needed. He may not be a stellar starter but I believe he'll be a fine backup for us. And at 700k? **** me, that's perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Funny though, how many of us had Niemi as our backups after a MAF trade to Dallas?

I did some asking around and apparently Bobrovsky, Anderson, Holtby, etc... weren't available for 700K.

 

[Cherpak]

I did some asking around and apparently Bobrovsky, Anderson, Holtby, etc... weren't available for 700K.

Yeah because they were all available as options.

If your going to defend your "group think" at least be realistic.

 

[davemess]

Like this deal, figured we would be looking at a shade over 1mill for Niemi when he was linked to us yesterday.

If Murray is missing significant time Jarry probably starts anyway.

 

[Darth Vitale]

Dallas' D was awful, correct? With a decent team he could look better than he did last year

Correct on both counts. Their D has sucked... badly... for a long time.

I don't expect anything crazy but I think Niemi's confidence and numbers will improve some playing here. On this deal we got, it's about as good a backup goalie scenario as you're likely to get most years.

 

[SEALBound]

I did some asking around and apparently Bobrovsky, Anderson, Holtby, etc... weren't available for 700K.

Given what some of the goalies signed for, there are options I would have rather had but...this is just fine. Chad Johnson didn't want to come here. I think Elliot was slightly to much to be a back up here. McE resign in Toronto to what he was worth. So I mean, there were more I would have rather had but this is just fine with me.

Vet back up for 700k. It is what it is.

 

[WBSPens99]

No qualms about this. League minimum for a solid veteran backup.

 

[Cherpak]

No qualms about this. League minimum for a solid veteran backup.

Only part that's correct.

Niemi is not a SOLID backup but he is CHEAP.

 

[Giskard]

Cheap veteran goalie, exact what we were looking for to keep Jarry develop in the AHL until needed.

 

[shureshot66]

"I mean, did you see me play last season? I was garbage."

 

[Captain Hook]

Worth a shot given our need and the cheap price. It also gives us yet another backup that has won a Stanley Cup.

I do think the way Dallas plays kind of broke him. Dallas seemed to play in a way that reminded me a lot of the Pens at their worst in that series against Philadelphia. It'll be interesting to see if Niemi can recover and get back to being the decent goalie he's been over most of his career. The good news is we still have Jarry if he can't.

 

[Cherpak]

No sense whats done is done.

I like the term/price but not the player. I'll like it even more if we get a decent/good 3 and 4 C without giving up much more.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

Great deal.. No risk, high reward.

 

[SEALBound]

Matt Niskanen
Justin Schultz
Antti Niemi

Among a few others. What do they all have in common?

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Matt Niskanen
Justin Schultz
Antti Niemi

Among a few others. What do they all have in common?

Dallas. Errr.

 

[Shady Machine]

Very good deal. Cheap and short term. If he blows they can call up Jarry or upgrade at deadline.

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

This is a great signing at this price. He has a longer history of being solid versus not, has a cup ring, and is capable of taking some of the workload off of Murray.

He could come here and have a resurgence, or yes, he could also be a disappointment but at 700K/1 year I can't see any reason not to like this.

Replace the 2009 Cup winning goalie with the 2010 Cup winning goalie and save $5 million in cap space. Both close to the same age and same career save %. Good example the extra $5 million lets you have a $6 million dollar player added instead of a $1 million dollar player added to the team. Getting a veteran backup this cheap and saving $5 million in cap space is huge.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

Replace the 2009 Cup winning goalie with the 2010 Cup winning goalie and save $5 million in cap space. Both close to the same age and same career save %. Good example the extra $5 million lets you have a $6 million dollar player added instead of a $1 million dollar player added to the team. Getting a veteran backup this cheap and saving $5 million in cap space is huge.

Christ. Yes. It's amazing to think that the pens goaltending is primed for under $5mil for, probably, the next 2 years.

So. Awesome.

 

[shureshot66]

 

[Brandinho]

Strongly dislike the player (not on a personal level, he just isn't very good), but it's an acceptable risk @ 700k. Maybe he regains some form and is a useful backup for one year. If not, we didn't wager much on that gamble.

 

[Captain Hook]

Encouraging to hear in the article that he's upped his training and seems pretty motivated to bounce back this year.

 

[NMK11]

A former starter who was capable of being a cup-winning netminder signed at league minimum for one year coming from his worst season but behind a garbage D. People dont like this?

I fully expect that if Murray is injured, Jarry will be up to at least take half the games if not be the full time starter here.

 

[Brandinho]

A former starter who was capable of being a cup-winning netminder signed at league minimum for one year coming from his worst season but behind a garbage D. People dont like this?

I fully expect that if Murray is injured, Jarry will be up to at least take half the games if not be the full time starter here.

Have you watched him play at any point over the past four seasons? He was subpar near the end of his tenure in San Jose and downright pathetic in Dallas. Furthermore, outside of one brilliant playoff run, he has consistently played poorly when it matters the most. By poorly, I mean that he makes Fleury look like a strong playoff performer.

No, people don't like this for good reason. The only mitigating factors are the low cost and the fact that there's zero term attached.